CA2425265A1 - Manufacturing methods and systems for rapid production of hearing-aid shells - Google Patents

Manufacturing methods and systems for rapid production of hearing-aid shells Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2425265A1
CA2425265A1 CA002425265A CA2425265A CA2425265A1 CA 2425265 A1 CA2425265 A1 CA 2425265A1 CA 002425265 A CA002425265 A CA 002425265A CA 2425265 A CA2425265 A CA 2425265A CA 2425265 A1 CA2425265 A1 CA 2425265A1
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hearing
model
aid
generating
shell surface
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CA002425265A
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French (fr)
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CA2425265C (en
Inventor
Ping Fu
Dmitry Nekhayev
Herbert Edelsbrunner
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Sonova Holding AG
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Individual
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/65—Housing parts, e.g. shells, tips or moulds, or their manufacture
    • H04R25/658—Manufacture of housing parts
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y50/00—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y50/00—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
    • B33Y50/02—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y80/00—Products made by additive manufacturing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B19/00—Programme-control systems
    • G05B19/02—Programme-control systems electric
    • G05B19/18—Numerical control [NC], i.e. automatically operating machines, in particular machine tools, e.g. in a manufacturing environment, so as to execute positioning, movement or co-ordinated operations by means of programme data in numerical form
    • G05B19/4097—Numerical control [NC], i.e. automatically operating machines, in particular machine tools, e.g. in a manufacturing environment, so as to execute positioning, movement or co-ordinated operations by means of programme data in numerical form characterised by using design data to control NC machines, e.g. CAD/CAM
    • G05B19/4099—Surface or curve machining, making 3D objects, e.g. desktop manufacturing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B2219/00—Program-control systems
    • G05B2219/30—Nc systems
    • G05B2219/32—Operator till task planning
    • G05B2219/32189—Compare between original solid model and measured manufactured object
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B2219/00—Program-control systems
    • G05B2219/30—Nc systems
    • G05B2219/45—Nc applications
    • G05B2219/45172—Prosthesis
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
    • G05B2219/00—Program-control systems
    • G05B2219/30—Nc systems
    • G05B2219/49—Nc machine tool, till multiple
    • G05B2219/49008—Making 3-D object with model in computer memory
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2225/77—Design aspects, e.g. CAD, of hearing aid tips, moulds or housings
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2460/00—Details of hearing devices, i.e. of ear- or headphones covered by H04R1/10 or H04R5/033 but not provided for in any of their subgroups, or of hearing aids covered by H04R25/00 but not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2460/11—Aspects relating to vents, e.g. shape, orientation, acoustic properties in ear tips of hearing devices to prevent occlusion
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/65—Housing parts, e.g. shells, tips or moulds, or their manufacture
    • H04R25/652—Ear tips; Ear moulds
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02A—TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02A90/00—Technologies having an indirect contribution to adaptation to climate change
    • Y02A90/10—Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

Methods, apparatus and computer program products provide efficient techniques for designing and printing shells of hearing-aid devices with a high degree of quality assurance and reliability and with a reduced number of manual and time consuming production steps and operations. These techniques also preferably provide hearing-aid shells having internal volumes that can approach a maximum allowable ratio of internal volume relative to external volume. These high internal volumes facilitate the inclusion of hearing-aid electrical components having higher degrees of functionality and/or the use of smaller and less conspicuous hearing-aid shells. A preferred method includes operations to generate a watertight digital model of a hearing-aid shell by thickening a three-dimensional digital model of a shell surface in a manner that eliminates self-intersections and results in a thickened model having an internal volume that is a high percentage of an external volume of the model. This thickening operation preferably includes nonuniformly thickening the digital model of a shell surface about a directed path that identifies a location of an undersurface hearing-aid vent. This directed path may be drawn on the shell surface by a technician (e.g., audiologist) or computer-aided design operator, for example. Operations are then preferably performed to generate a digital model of an undersurface hearing-aid vent in the thickened model of the shell surface, at a location proximate the directed path.

Claims (111)

1. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
automatically generating a first three-dimensional digital model of a surface that describes a shape of an ear canal of a subject as a 2-manifold surface having zero or nonzero functional boundary, from captured three-dimensional data;
generating a second three-dimensional digital model of a thickened hearing-aid shell from the first three-dimensional digital model;
printing the second three-dimensional digital model as a hearing-aid shell; and performing quality assurance by comparing at least two of the first three-dimensional digital model, the second three-dimensional digital model and a third three-dimensional digital model derived from the printed hearing-aid shell.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of performing quality assurance comprises comparing at least two of the first three-dimensional digital model, the second three-dimensional digital model and a third three-dimensional digital model derived from a scan of the printed hearing-aid shell.
3. The method of Claim 2, wherein said step of generating a first three-dimensional digital model comprises:
generating a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface that describes the shape of an ear canal of a subject, from multiple point sets that described respective portions of the non star-shape surface; and automatically wrapping the point cloud representation into a non star-shaped surface triangulation.
4. The method of Claim 3, wherein said step of generating a second three-dimensional digital model comprises:
cutting and/or trimming the non star-shaped surface triangulation into a three-dimensional digital model of a star-shaped hearing-aid shell surface; and thickening the digital model of the star-shaped hearing-aid shell surface.
5. The method of Claim 4, wherein said thickening step is followed by the steps of:
defining a receiver hole and/or vent in the thickened digital model; and fitting a digital faceplate to the thickened digital model.
6. The method of Claim 5, wherein said printing step comprises printing a hearing-aid shell with integral faceplate from the thickened digital model.
7. The method of Claim 5, wherein said printing step comprises printing a hearing-aid shell with integral faceplate using a printing tool selected from the group consisting of a stereolithography tool and a rapid prototyping apparatus.
8. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface from scan data; and generating a thickened model of the hearing-aid shell from the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
9. The method of Claim 8, wherein said step of generating a thickened model comprises generating a thickened model of the hearing-aid shell having a digital representation of a receiver hole therein, from the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
10. The method of Claim 8, wherein said step of generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface is preceded by the step of generating the scan data as a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface that describes a shape of an ear canal.
11. The method of Claim 10, wherein said step of generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface comprises generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface as a 2-manifold surface having a nonzero functional boundary.
12. The method of Claim 10, wherein said step of generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface comprises processing the point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface using an automated wrap function that, independent of information in excess of the Cartesian coordinates of the points in the point cloud representation, converts the point cloud representation into the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
13. The method of Claim 11, wherein said step of generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface comprises processing the point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface using an automated wrap function that, independent of information in excess of the Cartesian coordinates of the points in the point cloud representation, converts the point cloud representation into the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
14. The method of Claim 10, wherein said step of generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface comprises processing the point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface using an automated wrap function that, independent of connectivity information linking points in the point cloud representation by edges and triangles, converts the point cloud representation into the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
15. The method of Claim 11, wherein said step of generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface comprises processing the point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface using an automated wrap function that, independent of connectivity information linking points in the point cloud representation by edges and triangles, converts the point cloud representation into the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
16. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating scan data as a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface that describes a shape of an ear canal;
generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface from scan data by:
processing the point cloud representation using a wrap function that, independent of connectivity information linking points in the point cloud representation by edges and triangles, automatically converts the point cloud representation into a surface triangulation;
and converting the surface triangulation into the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface, by cutting, trimming and/or otherwise detailing the surface triangulation; and generating a thickened model of the hearing-aid shell from the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
17. The method of Claim 16, wherein said step of generating a thickened model comprises generating a thickened model of the hearing-aid shell having a digital representation of a receiver hole therein.
18. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface from scan data; and generating a thickened model of the hearing-aid shell that comprises a digital representation of a receiver hole therein and a digital representation of a mounting flange that surrounds the receiver hole and extends into an interior of the thickened model, from the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
19. The method of Claim 18, wherein said step of generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface comprises generating a surface triangulation from the scan data and generating a digital full ear cast from the surface triangulation.
20. The method of Claim 19, wherein said step of generating a digital full ear cast comprises subtracting a volume bounded by the surface triangulation from a digital model of a cast form using a Boolean operation.
21. The method of Claim 18, wherein said step of generating a thickened model of the hearing-aid shell comprises generating a thickened digital model of the hearing-aid shell with integral faceplate and vent hole extending through the faceplate.
22. The method of Claim 18, further comprising the step of generating a trim curve that identifies a shape of a rim of the thickened model of the hearing-aid shell.
23. The method of Claim 22, further comprising the step of cutting a faceplate form along a path defined by the trim curve.
24. A method or manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface that describes a shape of an ear canal, from multiple partial scans of the non star-shape surface; and generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface from the point cloud representation by:
processing the point cloud representation using a wrap function that, independent of connectivity information linking points in the point cloud representation by edges and triangles, automatically converts the point cloud representation into a surface triangulation;
and converting the surface triangulation into the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
25. The method of Claim 24, wherein said converting step comprising digitally cutting and/or digitally trimming the surface triangulation at least until the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface is star-shaped.
26. The method of Claim 24, wherein said step of generating a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface comprises filtering the point cloud representation to remove high frequency noise and outliers.
27. The method of Claim 24, wherein said step of generating a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface comprises generating a plurality of partial point cloud representations from the multiple partial scans of the non star-shape surface and registering the plurality of partial point cloud representations into a single, cohesive a point cloud representation.
28. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface that describes a shape of an ear canal, from multiple overlapping scans of the non star-shape surface; and generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface from the point cloud representation by:
processing the point cloud representation using a wrap function that converts the point cloud representation into a surface triangulation; and converting the surface triangulation into the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface that is star-shaped.
29. The method of Claim 28, wherein said step of generating a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface comprises filtering the point cloud representation to remove high frequency noise and outliers.
30. The method of Claim 28, wherein said step of generating a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface comprises:
generating a plurality of partial point cloud representations from the multiple overlapping scans of the non star-shape surface; and registering the plurality of incomplete point cloud representations into a cohesive a point cloud representation.
31. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating a point cloud representation of a non star-shaped surface that describes a shape of an ear canal, from multiple partial scans of the non star-shape surface;
wrapping the point cloud representation into a non star-shaped surface triangulation;
cutting and/or trimming the non star-shaped surface triangulation into a three-dimensional digital model of a star-shaped hearing-aid shell surface;
thickening the digital model of the star-shaped hearing-aid shell surface;
printing the thickened digital model of the star-shaped hearing-aid shell surface as a hearing-aid shell; and performing quality assurance by comparing two or more of a digital model derived from a scan of the printed hearing-aid shell, the three-dimensional digital model of a star-shaped hearing-aid shell surface the non-star shaped surface triangulation and a digital full-ear cast.
32. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
nonuniformly thickening a three-dimensional digital model of a shell surface about a directed path thereon to define a thickened model; and generating an undersurface hearing-aid vent in the thickened model of the shell surface, at a location proximate the directed path.
33. The method of Claim 32, wherein the digital model of the shell surface is a 2-manifold or 2-manifold with nonzero boundary; and wherein the thickened model of the shell surface is a watertight model that is free of self-intersections.
34. The method of Claim 32, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises the steps of:
nonuniformly thickening the digital model of the shell surface about the directed path to determine a partially offset inner shell surface; and uniformly thickening the digital model of the shell surface relative to the partially offset inner shell surface to determine an entirely offset inner shell surface.
35. The method of Claim 32, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises the steps of:
nonuniformly thickening the digital model of the shell surface about the directed path to determine a partially offset inner shell surface; and nonuniformly thickening the digital model of the shell surface having the partially offset inner shell surface to determine an entirely offset inner shell surface.
36. The method of Claim 34, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises thickening the digital model of the shell surface using a bump function constructed around a kernel defined by the directed path.
37. The method of Claim 36, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises the steps of:
determining a first offset of the directed path normal to the shell surface; and determining a respective normalized adjusted normal for each of a plurality of vertices on the directed path using parametrizations proportional to a distance between the directed path and the first offset of the directed path.
38. The method of Claim 37, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises determining a respective normalized adjusted normal for each of a plurality of first vertices on the digital model of the shell surface that are within a support of the bump function, by mixing an estimated normal at the respective first vertex with the normalized adjusted normal at a nearest vertex on the directed path.
39. The method of Claim 38, wherein the digital model of the shell surface is a surface triangulation that includes the plurality of first vertices;
and wherein the directed path includes at least one vertex that is not a vertex of the surface triangulation.
40. The method of Claim 38, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises locally thickening the digital model of the shell surface by moving a first vertex on the digital model of the shell surface along a respective normalized adjusted normal at the first vertex.
41. The method of Claim 40, wherein the first vertex is moved a distance defined by the bump function.
42. The method of Claim 33, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises the steps of:
uniformly thickening the digital model of the shell surface to determine an entirely offset inner shell surface; and then nonuniformly thickening the digital model of the shell surface about the directed path.
43. The method of Claim 32, wherein said generating step comprises the steps of:
determining an axis of the vent in the thickened model of the shell surface; and determining a surface of the vent about the axis.
44. The method of Claim 43, wherein the digital model of the shell surface is a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary; wherein the directed path includes beginning and termination points on the digital model of the shell surface; and wherein the axis of the vent is offset from the directed path adjacent the beginning point and meets the directed path adjacent the termination point.
45. The method of Claim 43, wherein the surface of the vent is a triangulation.
46. The method of Claim 45, wherein the thickened model of the shell surface has a nonuniformly thick rim; and wherein the surface of the vent intersects the thickened model of the shell surface at a thickest part of the rim.
47. The method of Claim 32, wherein said generating step comprises the steps of:
determining an axis of the vent in the thickened model of the shell surface;
determining for each of a plurality of points on the axis, a respective plane that is normal to the axis and passes through the respective point;
and determining for each plane a respective circle having a center on the axis.
48. The method of Claim 47, further comprising the steps of:
tilting a first plurality of the planes to reduce interferences; and projecting each circle associated with the first plurality of tilted planes as an ellipse on the respective tilted plane.
49. The method of Claim 48, further comprising the step of determining a surface of the vent by connecting the ellipses on the first plurality of tilted planes.
50. The method of Claim 49, wherein the digital model of the shell surface is a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary; wherein the directed path includes beginning and termination points on the digital model of the shell surface; and wherein the axis of the vent is offset from the directed path adjacent the beginning point and meets the directed path adjacent the termination point.
51. The method of Claim 50, wherein the surface of the vent is a triangulation.
52. The method of Claim 51, wherein the thickened model of the shell surface has a nonuniformly thick rim; and wherein the surface of the vent intersects the thickened model of the shell surface at a thickest part of the rim.
53. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface from point cloud data;
automatically nonuniformly thickening the digital model about a directed path that identifies a desired location of an undersurface hearing-aid vent, to determine a thickened model having an entirely offset inner shell surface; and generating the vent in the thickened model, at a location proximate the directed path.
54. The method of Claim 53, wherein the thickened model is a watertight model that is free of self-intersections.
55. The method of Claim 53, wherein said generating step is preceded by the step of generating point cloud data by scanning an imprint of an ear canal of a user.
56. The method of Claim 54, wherein said step of generating a vent is followed by the step of printing a hearing-aid shell having a nonuniform thickness and a vent extending therethrough, based on the thickened model.
57. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the step of:
generating a watertight model of a hearing-aid shell by nonuniformly thickening a digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface about a portion of the shell surface that defines a desired location of an undersurface hearing-aid vent.
58. The method of Claim 57, wherein said step of generating a watertight model comprises nonuniformly thickening the digital model using a bump function constructed around a kernel defined by a set of points on the shell surface.
59. The method of Claim 58, wherein the bump function is derived from a Gaussian distribution function or a spline function.
60. The method of Claim 57, wherein said step of generating a watertight model is preceded by the steps of:
generating a volume triangulation from point cloud data describing a shape of an ear canal of a subject;
generating a first surface triangulation that is a 2-manifold from the volume triangulation; and generating a second surface triangulation that is a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary from the first surface triangulation by cutting the first triangulation along a plane.
61. The method of Claim 60, further comprising the step of generating a hearing-aid vent in the thickened model by:
determining an axis of the hearing-aid vent in the thickened model; and determining a surface of the hearing-aid vent about the axis.
62. The method of Claim 57, further comprising the step of generating the hearing-aid vent in the thickened model by:
determining an axis of the hearing-aid vent in the thickened model; and determining a surface of the hearing-aid vent about the axis.
63. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating a surface triangulation of the hearing-aid shell from point cloud data describing a shape of at least a portion of an ear canal of a subject;
generating a watertight 2-manifold triangulation of the hearing-aid shell from the surface triangulation;

generating a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary triangulation of the vent that is compatible with the watertight 2-manifold triangulation of the hearing aid shell; and printing a three-dimensional hearing-aid shell based on the watertight 2-manifold triangulation of the hearing-aid shell and the 2-manifold with nonzero boundary vent triangulation.
64. The method of Claim 63, further comprising the steps of:
generating a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary triangulation of the hearing-aid shell from the watertight 2-manifold triangulation of the hearing aid shell, by defining vent holes therein; and merging the 2-manifold with nonzero boundary triangulation of the vent and the 2-manifold with nonzero boundary triangulation of the hearing-aid shell to define a watertight 2-manifold triangulation of the hearing-aid shell having a vent therein.
65. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the step of:
thickening a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface using operations that move each of a plurality of vertices on the shell surface along a respective path that is normal to an inner shell surface.
66. The method of Claim 65, wherein the digital model of the hearing-aid shell surface is thickened sufficiently to support formation of a hearing aid vent in a wall thereof upon printing of the thickened digital model.
67. The method of Claim 65, wherein the thickened digital model of the hearing-aid shell is a watertight digital model that is free of self-intersections.
68. The method of Claim 65, wherein said thickening step comprises:
nonuniformly thickening the three-dimensional digital model of the hearing-aid shell surface about a directed path that identifies a desired location of an undersurface hearing-aid vent, to determine a partially offset inner shell surface; and uniformly thickening the three-dimensional digital model of the hearing-aid shell surface relative to the partially offset inner shell surface to determine an entirely offset inner shell surface.
69. The method of Claim 65, wherein said thickening step comprises:
nonuniformly thickening the three-dimensional digital model of the hearing-aid shell surface to determine a partially offset inner shell surface;
and nonuniformly thickening the three-dimensional digital model of the hearing-aid shell surface having the partially offset inner shell surface to determine an entirely offset inner shell surface.
70. The method of Claim 65, wherein the three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface is a surface triangulation; and wherein said thickening step is followed by the step of printing the hearing-aid shell based on the thickened digital model.
71. An automated hearing-aid shell manufacturing system, comprising:
a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising:
computer-readable program code that generates a first digital model of a hearing-aid shell from point cloud data; and computer-readable program code that determines whether first internal hearing-aid components can fit properly within an interior volume of the first digital model of the hearing-aid shell.
72. The manufacturing system of Claim 71, wherein said computer-readable program code further comprises:
computer-readable program code that generates a second digital model of a hearing-aid shell that is larger than the first digital model, from the point cloud data; and computer-readable program code that determines whether the first internal hearing-aid components can fit properly within an interior volume of the second digital model of the hearing-aid shell.
73. The manufacturing system of Claim 72, wherein the first digital model is a completely-in-ear-canal (CIC) digital model and the second digital model is an in-the-ear (ITE) digital model.
74. An automated hearing-aid shell manufacturing system, comprising:
a scanning tool that generates point cloud data describing a shape of at least a portion of an ear canal of a subject, from the ear canal of the subject or an impression of the ear canal of the subject; and a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising:
computer-readable program code that generates a digital model of a hearing-aid shell from the point cloud data; and computer-readable program code that determines whether size specifications of internal hearing-aid components are compatible with an interior volume of the digital model of the hearing-aid shell.
75. The manufacturing system of Claim 74, wherein said computer-readable storage medium comprises computer-readable program code that determines whether size specifications of internal hearing-aid components loaded from an Internet site or electronic file are compatible with an interior volume of the digital model of the hearing-aid shell.
76. The manufacturing system of Claim 74, wherein said computer-readable storage medium comprises computer-readable program code that generates a digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface as a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary from the point cloud data and nonuniformly thickens the shell surface about a directed path that identifies a desired location of an undersurface hearing-aid vent.
77. The manufacturing system of Claim 76, wherein the point cloud data is a 2-manifold triangulation or 2-manifold with nonzero boundary triangulation; and wherein said computer-readable storage medium comprises computer-readable program code that generates a digital model of a vent in the nonuniformly thickened shell surface at a location proximate the directed path.
78. The manufacturing system of Claim 74, wherein said computer-readable storage medium comprises computer-readable program code that generates a digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface as a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary from the point cloud data and thickens the shell surface using operations that move each of a plurality of vertices on the shell surface along a respective path that is normal to an inner shell surface.
79. The manufacturing system of Claim 78, wherein said computer-readable storage medium comprises computer-readable program code that generates a digital model of a vent in the thickened shell surface.
80. The manufacturing system of Claim 79, wherein said computer-readable storage medium comprises computer-readable program code that determines whether size specifications of internal hearing-aid components loaded from an Internet site or electronic file are compatible with an interior volume of the digital model of the hearing-aid shell.
81. A method of generating a digital model of a hearing-aid shell, comprising the step of:
generating a three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface by modifying a shape of a first digital model of a positive or negative representation of at least a portion of an ear canal of a subject to more closely conform to a shape of a digital template of a hearing-aid shell and/or modifying the shape of the digital template to more closely conform to the shape of the first digital model.
82. The method of Claim 81, wherein said generating step is preceded by the steps of:
generating point cloud data describing a shape of at least a portion of an ear canal of a subject by scanning either the ear canal of the subject or an impression of the ear canal of the subject;
generating a volume triangulation from the point cloud data; and generating the first digital model as a surface triangulation that is a 2-manifold or 2-manifold with nonzero boundary.
83. The method of Claim 81, further comprising the step of:
nonuniformly thickening the three-dimensional model of the hearing-aid shell surface using operations that move each of a plurality of vertices on the shell surface along a respective path that is normal to an inner shell surface.
84. A method of manufacturing a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating a first digital representation of a positive or negative image of at least a portion of an ear canal of a subject;
generating a second digital representation of a hearing-aid shell that has a shape that conforms to the ear canal of the subject; and printing a hearing-aid shell that conforms to the ear canal of the subject, based on the second digital representation.
85. The method of Claim 84, wherein the first digital representation is a representation selected from the group consisting of a point cloud representation, a 2-manifold triangulation and a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary triangulation.
86. The method of Claim 84, wherein said step of generating a second digital representation comprises the step of modifying a shape of the first digital representation to more closely conform to a shape of a digital template of a hearing-aid shell and/or modifying the shape of the digital template to more closely conform to the shape of the first digital representation.
87. The method of Claim 84, wherein said step of generating a second digital representation comprises the steps of:
generating a three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface that is a 2-manifold or 2-manifold with nonzero boundary; and thickening the three-dimensional model of the hearing-aid shell surface using operations that move each of a plurality of vertices on the shell surface along a respective path that is normal to an inner shell surface.
88. The method of Claim 84, wherein said step of generating a second digital representation comprises the steps of:
generating a three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface that is a 2-manifold or 2-manifold with nonzero boundary; and nonuniformly thickening the three-dimensional model of the hearing-aid shell surface about a directed path thereon to define a thickened model.
89. The method of Claim 88, further comprising the step of generating an undersurface hearing-aid vent in the thickened model of the shell surface, at a location proximate the directed path.
90. The method of Claim 89, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises the steps of:
nonuniformly thickening the three-dimensional model of the hearing-aid shell surface about the directed path to determine a partially offset inner shell surface; and uniformly thickening the three-dimensional model of the shell surface relative to the partially offset inner shell surface to determine an entirely offset inner shell surface.
91. An automated hearing-aid shell manufacturing system, comprising:
a scanning tool that generates point cloud data describing a shape of at least a portion of an ear canal of a subject, from the ear canal of the subject or an impression of the ear canal of the subject; and a computer-aided design tool that is communicatively coupled to said scanning tool, said computer-aided design tool comprising:
a display; and a computer system communicatively coupled to said display, said computer system comprising a processor and a computer program product readable by the processor and tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the processor to perform the method steps of:
generating a first digital model of at least a portion of the ear canal of the subject from the point cloud data;
aligning a digital template of a hearing-aid shell with the first digital model; and generating a three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface by modifying a shape of the digital template to more closely conform to a shape of the first digital model and/or modifying the shape of the first digital model to more closely conform to the shape of the digital template.
92. The manufacturing system of Claim 91, wherein the three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface is a 2-manifold triangulation or a 2-manifold with nonzero boundary triangulation; and wherein said generating step is followed by the step of thickening the three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface by moving each of a plurality of vertices on the shell surface along a respective path that is normal to an inner shell surface.
93. The manufacturing system of Claim 92, wherein said thickening step comprises nonuniformly thickening the three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface about a directed path thereon that identifies a desired location of an undersurface vent.
94. The manufacturing system of Claim 93, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step comprises nonuniformly thickening the three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface using a bump function constructed around a kernel defined by the directed path.
95. The manufacturing system of Claim 94, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step is followed by the steps of:
aligning a digital model of a frame to the thickened three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface; and modifying a shape of the thickened three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface to be matingly compatible with the digital model of the frame.
96. The manufacturing system of Claim 94, wherein said nonuniformly thickening step is followed by the steps of:
attaching a digital faceplate model to the thickened three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface; and trimming away portions of the digital faceplate model that are outside an area of intersection between the digital faceplate model and the thickened three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface.
97. The manufacturing system of Claim 96, wherein said trimming step is followed by the step of:
digitally smoothing edges of the digital faceplate model.
98. The manufacturing system of Claim 97, further comprising:
a three-dimensional printer that is communicatively coupled to said computer-aided design tool and prints the thickened three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface and digital faceplate model attached thereto, in response to a command from said computer-aided design tool.
99. The manufacturing system of Claim 95, further comprising:
a three-dimensional printer that is communicatively coupled to said computer-aided design tool and prints the modified shape of the thickened three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface in response to a command from said computer-aided design tool.
100. The manufacturing system of Claim 91, wherein the digital template of a hearing-aid shell has an outer surface and an inner surface spaced from the outer surface.
101. The manufacturing system of Claim 100, wherein the digital template of a hearing-aid shell is a watertight model that is free of self-intersections.
102. The manufacturing system of Claim 101, wherein the digital template of a hearing-aid shell is a 2-manifold triangulation having a vent therein.
103. A method of generating a digital model of a hearing-aid shell, comprising the step of:
generating a first three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell;
printing a hearing-aid shell based on the first three-dimensional digital model;
generating point cloud data by scanning the printed hearing-aid shell;
and generating a second three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface from the point cloud data.
104. The method of Claim 103, further comprising the step of:
digitally comparing the second three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface against at least a portion of a first three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell to detect differences therebetween.
105. The method of Claim 103, wherein said step of generating a first three-dimensional digital model is preceded by the step of generating an initial three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell surface by modifying a shape of a first digital model of a positive or negative representation of at least a portion of an ear canal of a subject to more closely conform to a shape of a digital template of a hearing-aid shell and/or modifying the shape of the digital template to more closely conform to the shape of the first digital model.
106. The method of Claim 105, further comprising the step of:
digitally comparing the second three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface against the initial three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface to detect differences therebetween.
107. A method of generating a three-dimensional digital model of a hearing-aid shell, comprising the steps of:
generating an intermediate model of a hearing-aid shell having a partially offset inner surface by locally thickening a three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface using operations that move each of a plurality of vertices on the shell surface along a respective path that is defined by a respective normalized adjusted normal to the shell surface;
and then globally or locally thickening the intermediate model to define an entirely offset inner surface of a thickened model of the shell surface, using operations that move each of a plurality of vertices on the partially offset inner surface along a respective path that is defined by a respective normalized readjusted normal to the partially offset inner surface.
108. The method of Claim 107, wherein said locally thickening step comprises locally thickening a three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface using operations that move each of a plurality of vertices on the shell surface that are within a support of a bump function along a respective path that is defined by a respective normalized adjusted normal.
109. The method of Claim 108, wherein said locally thickening step is preceded by the step of designating a location of an undersurface hearing-aid vent on the shell surface; and wherein said locally thickening step comprises locally thickening a three-dimensional model of a hearing-aid shell surface using operations that move each of a plurality of vertices on the shell surface a distance no less than about 2r+2w-s, where r designates a radius of the vent, w designates a wall thickness and s designates a shell thickness.
110. The method of Claim 109, wherein said step of globally or locally thickening the intermediate model is followed by the step of repairing self-intersections on the entirely offset inner surface.
111. The method of Claim 110, further comprising the step of generating an undersurface hearing-aid vent in the thickened model of the shell surface.
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US7328080B2 (en) 2008-02-05
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US20030074174A1 (en) 2003-04-17
US7050876B1 (en) 2006-05-23
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